Stressing the Necessity to Apply the "Iraqiyat" (Iraqi Women) Initiative, Sayyid Ammar al-Hakim Calls for Turning the Ministry of Women into a Full-power Ministry

During the ceremony of Fatima Zahra (AS) as the Iraqi women's day, in his Eminence's office in Baghdad on Saturday, May 4, 2013, Sayyid Ammar al-Hakim, head of the Islamic Superior Council of Iraq, called for turning the Ministry of Women into a full-power ministry, maintaining that new initiatives are not what women need, rather the already-launched initiatives must be revived and pressure must be exerted in order to apply them, alluding to the Iraqiyat initiative previously launched by his Eminence which, according to him, envisions a superior council for women, and special care for widows, divorcees and women with special needs, as well as training and rehabilitation of women and awareness of women on their rights. He considered the ignorance of women as to their rights as an important reason behind the loss of their rights, saying it is necessary to follow up women's rights, set up a special law firm to defend the women's rights and reconsider the suspended laws which consist of giving women their own constitutional rights. He was sorry that the elected government has not renewed the announcement of the birthday of Fatima Zahra (AS) as the day of Iraqi women, as it was the case in the Iraqi Governing Council.

Countries Supporting al-Nusra Front Should Assume the Consequences of the Demolition and Exhumation of the Grave of the Companion Hujr Ibn Adi (May Allah be pleasant with him)Sayyid Ammar al-Hakim held the countries supporting and sponsoring Al-Nusra Front, an affiliate of Al Qaida terrorist organization, responsible for the consequences of the demolition and exhumation of the grave of the Companion Hujr Ibn Adi (May Allah be pleasant with him), confirming that such acts are intended to create clashes between people and results in a far-reaching civil war. His Eminence considered this crime as intellectual and behavioral excessive control, and said if this logic cannot contain Muslims or the followers of the sect to which they belong, how then can it contain the whole mankind. He also said the whole mankind condemns the exhumation of graves, especially the grave of such majestic companion as Hujr Ibn Adi al-Kindi.

What Matters is the Success of Provinces Irrespective of Who RulesHis Eminence confirmed that agreements were reached with Mr. Nouri al-Maliki and his party, the State of Law Coalition, Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr and the fellows in Al Ahrar Bloc before and after elections to form the provincial councils, and that what matters is the success of provinces irrespective of who rules. Moreover, he hoped that the political blocs give a new image of their cooperation and run competent candidates within a consistent team, while saying, "Now that the electoral competition came to an end, the next step is to work together. In fact, all the blocs must cooperate, pull together and focus on carrying out their program to ensure the success and the progress of provinces. In addition, he called for dedicating wide powers and budgets to the provincial councils as set forth in the constitution. According to him, the Citizen Alliance is fully committed to every promise it has made in its electoral campaign and will work hard on achieving its platform, which, in his opinion, considered the resources of each province separately and explained how to finance them.

The Vision Designed to Empower the Iraqi Women Must Be Compatible with the Islamic Culture and Traditions of the Iraqi PeopleSayyid Ammar al-Hakim called for turning the commemoration of the birthday of Fatima Zahra (AS) into a daily lived reality. He said Fatima Zahra (AS) was special in all domains and a model to be copied by men and women alike. In addition, she was a mother of her father and good follower of Ali (AS). His Eminence explained that Islam looks at women from a realistic perspective, showing that the lack of vision is behind the confusion Islam faces in dealing with women and that such confusion results from the fact the some texts addressed to specific women in specific circumstances were quoted and generalized to all women to make it seem like an Islamic vision of the women, not to mention the misunderstanding of the distribution of roles and the differentiation of women and men, not discrimination between them. He added that also among the reasons is the confusion between what is accepted as a general truth and what is inherited in dealing with women. In fact, some inheritances are taken by some confused as adages and are pretended to be an Islamic vision of women. His Eminence reiterated that men and women are equal human beings and were created from a single person, considering the dissemination of confusing ideas in terms of the Islamic vision of women as targeting Islam more than it targets women. According to him, to build a conscious empathetic, enlightened modern society, a science-based plan must be drawn up, and the building of such society requires the participation of women. He pointed that the Iraqi women achieved a remarkable advancement we are all proud of, adding that women have the ability to participate, and that this ability shapes our social vision. Moreover, he stressed the importance of developing the legislations that give women their rights in all domains, urging the Iraqi women, the parliament, the government, the civil institutions and the mass media all to take part in the activation of the role of women in the society and the building of the State, while also confirming that the vision designed to empower the Iraqi women must be compatible with the Islamic and social culture and traditions of the Iraqi people. He also said there is no need to import visions, yet new visions must be produced with an Iraqi Islamic will, reminding that the Iraqi women suffered a lot during the rule of the dictator, and were imprisoned, tortured and executed. Here, his Eminence cited Bint al-Huda (may Allah sanctify her soul) who suffered from terrorism and murdering after the fall of the previous regime, but resisted and never gave up, which makes her a women to be proud of. In his opinion, when women live in fear, the whole society does as well, and when women feel secure, the whole society feels it too. He said it is by claiming rights and showing commitment to obligations that the society can be built, and education is indispensable for women, for it brings about an educated family and an educated society.